Carnival Night
by Wolfstorm7
Summary: The gang walks into town for the June Carnival, not expecting much. After a magic show and a masquerade ball, Husky and Nana wind up getting much more than they anticipated or wished for.
1. Part 1

Hello. Fluff. Enjoy.

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NOTE: As you people are probably aware of, Nana and Husky are _usually_ the same age. But_,_ Husky is born in March and Nana is born in October, so in the period of time in which this story takes place (June) their ages happen to differ. I did _research_, folks ;)

Ages:  
Cooro: 14  
Husky: 14  
Nana: 13  
Senri: 19

* * *

"This is going nowhere."

"What do you mean, Husky?"

"I'm not having fun, you're not having fun – why are we here?"

Cooro stared at his friend, who was sitting on the side of the main town fountain, one thin knee propped up under his chin and the other dangling over the water. Cooro flapped his arms in protest. "_I'm_ having fun! You just don't like it here because it reminds you of the circus!"

Husky sighed. "I didn't want to come."

"I know, but Nana talked you into it."

"She threatened to knock me out and put me in a dress again!"

"So it's a good thing you came quietly."

"But, Cooro…"

He stopped complaining because the other boy was grinning stupidly at a pretty girl going by. But she was holding a jelly pastry, and Husky wasn't sure which his friend was interested in.

But this _was_ kind of fun, if he tried to forget the circus. Young people of all ages were laughing, dancing. Clowns juggled neon colored bowling pins while people clapped to the beat. Tame lions roamed the crowd with young girl tamers sitting on their backs. A man was doing magic tricks (while his young apprentice poked his quick hands into the pockets of the entranced crowd members and drew away with watches and wallets). People were dressed in masquerade costumes.

Far away, Nana was sitting on Senri's shoulders so she could see the show going on. She was high above everyone else, with her brown-blond hair tossing in the breeze. The show was a love story act, not a very good one, but all the same appealed to the girl, who was enraptured. Senri watched with quiet eyes, not smiling but yet not unhappy.

Nana's new soft pink dress fluttered in the breeze.

"I don't know why Nana always needs new outfits," Husky grumbled, hopping off the fountain and walking next to Cooro. They passed brightly-decorated shop windows and bumped around people wearing cocktail masks. "She's just a kid like us. I mean, _I_ don't care about that kind of thing. _I_ don't get obsessive."

The next store was a jewelry shop. In the window sat a large blue gem on a velvet pedestal. Husky stopped short and impulsively pressed his face to the window, his nose squished against the glass. People inside turned with horrified expressions and Cooro laughed.

"You were saying?"

Husky pulled back red-faced. "I thought I saw someone I knew in the shop."

Cooro's grin didn't go away.

"Well, it's not as if you don't have problems as well, bird-boy!"

"I'm normal," protested the smiling +Anima.

"Oh really? Look over there." Husky pointed to a vendor with a red cart standing at the side of the road.

Cooro's brown eyes widened beyond belief and little hearts appeared in his pupils.

"CANDY APPLES!" He rushed over to the stand and drooled. Husky watched with interest as Cooro searched his pockets for money, and, finding only a few pillah (not nearly enough for a caramel apple), slyly stared off into the distance. The apple-seller followed the boy's gaze, looking away. Cooro quickly tried to shove a bushel of candied apples into his pockets and found them too small. Literally stuck with a handful of apples and a time-limit, the boy put the apples down the front of his shorts.

"Where's Cooro?" Nana asked from Senri's shoulders as the tall man wandered over to the fish-boy. Senri picked the little girl off his shoulders and set her down next to the silver-haired boy.

"Oh, he's stuffing apples into his underwear," remarked Husky indifferently with a wave of his hand.

"He's _what_?"

Senri nodded sagely in acceptance of this odd behavior while Nana started shouting at Husky. "Why do you let him do these things? He's stealing food!"

"Look who's talking, Ms. Phantom-Thief-Nana."

She curled her hands into fists.

Cooro wandered over and saw her distressed face. "What's wrong, Nana?"

"Husky was telling me the most ridiculous thing! It's not true though-"

While she was explaining, Cooro pulled a caramel apple from the front of his pants and took a bite. Nana stopped in mid-sentence and gaped.

"COORO! I thought you said you wouldn't steal anything anymore! PUT THOSE BACK!"

Cooro peered down his pants. "I don't think he'd want them anymore."

"Cooooorooo," Nana cried. "You are disgusting! At least go pay for them."

"Stupid girl, he can't tell the man he stole his food!"

"Husky, shut up! We're not thieves; Haden and Margaret gave us money to buy things. Cooro, where is yours?"

The boy grinned sheepishly. "I went to a fried dough stand, a cotton candy stand, a sausage stand, and a buffet place."

"You should have seen him scarf down that sausage," Husky muttered.

"I'm glad I didn't."

"I can't go over there," Cooro protested. "I can hardly walk!" To demonstrate he waddled a few steps, looking quite uncomfortable.

Nana sighed. "Senri, you have some money, right? I'll go pay for the apples."

Senri nodded solemnly and handed her a bag of gillah. She looked uncertain.

"Husky," the girl whispered in his ear. "Come with me."

"Why?" he asked loudly.

She blushed. "The apple-seller is scary-looking."

"Fine. You two" – he pointed to Cooro and Senri, and then to the stone fountain behind them which somehow was supposed to depict a jester riding an invisible elephant – "Don't leave this spot. We'll be right back."

They walked away, and Cooro looked at Senri. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Senri nodded. As a sign of friendship Cooro gave him a candied apple, which Senri held out from his body like a dirtied diaper.

"Let's go."

The bird and the bear wandered off into the crowd to find something entertaining to do – and maybe to give the bat and the fish some time to talk.

~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~

Or argue. "I told you he wouldn't like us!" Husky growled, tugging caramel out of his silver hair as he ran through the crowd, Nana clutching his other hand so that they wouldn't get separated by the cackling jesters, masked bird-men, and giggling spectators. They finally paused in an alley, out of the hubbub.

Nana had tears in her eyes as she stared at her flowered summer dress, which had spots of caramel on it. "I didn't know he'd throw his caramel spoons at us!"

"How would you react if some cute little girl came up, gave you money, and said 'This is paying for the apples we stole.'?"

"I would probably be thankful!" she cried, then froze in place and slowly raised her head to stare at Husky. "Wait… You called me cute!"

He blinked and reddened. "It was a metaphorical situation! I wasn't talking about you."

"I bet you were."

"No!"

"Yes."

"You're the last person I'd call cute."

"You're so cruel!"

"It's the truth."

She stuck out her tongue at him. "I'm going to go find Cooro and Senri!"

He followed her as they weaved through the crowd. Streamers flew and people cheered for an act on the next corner, which was a flamboyant dance group. Another wave of carnival-goers dashed by, threatening Husky's line of vision.

"Nana! Where are you?"

"Right here," she yelled, and twisted her way through the crowd. They were shorter than anyone else, but that made it kind of secluded, like they were actually alone in the crowd. They linked hands and kept moving, finally locating the street fountain where they were supposed to meet the other two in the group. There was the invisible elephant: but no Cooro or Senri.

"Damn it!" snarled Husky. "They're gone!"

Nana glanced around with big green eyes while Husky paced by the fountain.

"Argh! I should never have let them out of my sight! The two dumbest friends together, what was I thinking?"

Nana glanced at him. "So I'm smarter than Cooro and Senri?"

"I didn't mean that!"

She smiled a little. "Can we go over there? I want to see what's going on."

There was a crowd of people surrounding a door. "Sylvester's Magic Show!" the sign read. "Opens at 6PM."

Husky's blue eyes flickered to the large clock on the church steeple, which read 5:55. The sun still had at least two hours left over the horizon. Margaret was coming to pick them up in the wagon a little after midnight, a rare late curfew. _All four of you must be at the town entrance by 12:15._ Haden and she had been lenient on this special June Carnival night.

"Ooh, a magic show!" squealed Nana. "Husky, can we see it? _Please_?"

He swallowed. Circus acts were not something he enjoyed after being trapped in a giant bowl like a mutant goldfish on display. He examined the poster again. It was cheap enough.

"I guess. It's inexpensive and it's less than two hours long…"

She started to push her way through the taller adults towards the door. "That leaves plenty of time to find Cooro and Senri before midnight!"

"Bat-girl, I _really _don't want to go see a circus show!"

"Come on, Husky!" Her arm appeared out from the mass of people and grabbed his cloak collar, pulling him into the building.

He followed her, muttering under his breath the top ten reasons why he hated girls. Suddenly the doors opened, and he was caught up in a flood of people rushing into the theater.

"Nana?"

He saw her wheat-colored hair disappearing under the swarm of people and used his pokpok-stick to force his way through the crowd towards her. "Naaaaanaaa!"

"Husky!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her again, and for a moment it was as if she was going to hug him, but then she hissed, "Give the guy the money."

Husky looked up and saw a large ticket-collector standing above them. He quickly pulled out the right amount of gillah and handed it to the man – said man pointed to a staircase. "We have empty seats on the balcony, if you hurry."

They hurried and got front-row balcony seats, to the side of the stage.

"This is a great spot!" Nana whispered in awe.

People filed into the theater and the lights dimmed. The girl started to fidget and sing to herself.

"What's wrong now?" Husky groaned, seeing her green eyes shining from the darkness of the balcony.

"I'm scared of the dark," she whispered. "You know that!"

"Well, what are you going to do?"

She put her head on Husky's shoulder and hugged him tightly as a response. He flushed in anger and something he could not put his finger on.

"I'm not your teddy bear! Get off, bat-girl!"

She didn't retreat fully, keeping her head on his shoulder, but then her eyes lit up as she got an idea. Dark shapes popped from her back and she sighed with relief.

"You can't just use your +Anima because you're scared of the dark!" Husky hissed quietly. "Put it away!"

"Stop being such a control-freak, Husky."

"Someone might see you!"

"My wings are hidden by the seat's back, and my ears, if anyone can see them in this darkness, look like a costume."

She looked up and Husky rolled his eyes.

"I saw that."

"How did you see that? Echolocation doesn't tell you the shape of a guy's eyeball!"

"Having a bat +Anima doesn't impair my sight or anything."

"Well excuse me, I thought-"

"Will you girls shut up?" a man from a few rows above them snapped. "The show is starting."

They were quiet for a few moments as a man in a black suit walked onto the stage and started to perform complex card tricks. Nana was smiling.

"Hey, _girl_," She whispered in Husky's ear. "You were speaking too loudly."

"I am not a girl!" he hissed, pushing her off his shoulder. "It was dark; anyone could have made the same mistake with Cooro."

She smirked. "I wonder where Cooro and Senri are, anyway."

~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~

"Do we have enough left?" one cook asked the other.

"I don't know! The food is disappearing like it's being dumped down a trash chute!"

They peered out the glass window of the kitchen door and watched a hyperactive young teen pile a ninth helping of food onto his plate.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to run this as a buffet," sighed another cook. "We're going to be broke before morning."

"Can someone help, please?" a waitress cried, running into the kitchen. "This strange guy, he has paid already but hasn't eaten, has just been staring at the kitchen door for a half-hour now. I think he wants something… But be nice, I don't think he's all there."

The cooks peered out the window and spotted a handsome man dressed in a kimunkle outfit with an eye patch staring at them as if he were trying to explode their heads using mind powers.

"I think the poor soul believes he has the force."

They motioned for him to come inside. He shuffled up to the door and pushed it open.

"Would you like food?" asked one cook.

The man nodded and walked to the tub of raw meat, pulling out a piece.

"There's that same beef out on the buffet rack, but cooked. You can go get some of that," suggested a cook kindly.

The man glanced at him with a gray, unconcerned eye and took a big bite of the meat. The kitchen staff gaped.

"…Or you could just eat raw beef."

He licked his lips, made a funny face, and said "Salt."

~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~

For the next act, Sylvester saw sawing a beautiful girl in half.

"This is going to be so exciting!" whispered Nana.

Husky smiled for the first time during the performance, and possibly his whole life. "One less girl in this universe. Yes!"

Her eyes widened. "No, Husky, they don't _actually_ cut her in half!"

"I don't know," he said with a yawn. "I'm hoping for lots of blood."

"Nooo!" she shrieked in his ear, half-using her ultrasonic powers. "BAD Husky!"

He felt dazed and slumped over in his chair as the people above them snarled at them. "Nana, what the hell?"

"No one is going to get hurt," she said firmly. "That's not funny!"

Husky was still dizzy when Sylvester shouted something to the crowd. It was along the lines of: the beautiful young girl who had the job of being cut in half had run away at the last stop on the road. Sylvester was going to pick the most beautiful girl from the audience to be his assistant for one show until they found (and possibly pieced back together) the old girl. The assistant would also be rewarded for bravery with a large sum of money.

As the searchlight spun over the crowd Nana tried to look pretty, and to her and Husky's surprise, it rested lazily on the front row of the balcony where they were sitting.

"Aha!" shouted Sylvester. "We've found her! Please come down to the stage!"

Nana gasped. She shook her head.

"Nana, get up!" Husky whispered.

"Husky," she hissed, glancing at him. "It's not _me_."

"What do you mean?"

"Husky, he's talking to _you_."

Husky's jaw dropped and he pointed to himself. "Me?" he mouthed to Sylvester.

"Yes, you!" he roared up to the balcony. "You have exquisite beauty, my lady!"

Husky turned a brilliant shade of red. Nana stared at him.

"_You_ were picked for a beautiful girl and I wasn't?" Then she thought about it for one second more and started to laugh hysterically.

"Ah… Ah…" Husky tried to say something but no words came out. Sylvester tapped his foot.

"Don't worry, you won't get hurt! And you recieve 3000 gillah!"

"Um, I'm not, I'm- It's a mistake- Ah…"

"Come on down, pretty girl!"

Something inside him snapped.

"I AM _NOT_ A GIRL!" roared Husky like a lion with rabies. The whole theater was dead-silent, except for the sound of Nana's girly giggles. Then, suddenly, the whole room erupted into laughter. People screamed and gasped and hiccupped and in the midst of it all Husky sat under the spotlight, furious and beet-red, clutching his pokpok-stick so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"Well then," Sylvester finally said. "We'll just take the pretty girl sitting next to you. I safely assume she is not also a muliebrous boy?"

"I'm a real girl!" Nana yelled, her eyes angry.

"Well please come down to the stage, then."

Nana looked scared. "Husky, will they really cut me in half?"

The boy didn't answer because he was too busy trying to squeeze under his seat. Only his skinny bottom and legs showed.

Nana yanked him out. "Husky be brave! Face your destiny!"

"To be humiliated?" he whined, hiding his face in his silver cloak.

Nana didn't answer, as she had run down the steps and was already on the stage, nervously peering out into the crowd. Sylvester nodded with approval and took her aside, then loaded her into a box and whirled it around a few times. Nana looked sick, but whether it was from being spun like a top or the thought of being cut in half Husky did not know.

"Here is Nana, an authentic girl, to demonstrate for us the wonders of being cut into two separate pieces and surviving!"

Husky poked his head out from inside his cloak and watched. Nana clenched her jaw. The boy realized slowly as the colorful lights flashed over her pretty face that she actually was a valid candidate in the beautiful-girl search.

Sylvester's huge bodyguard-type man raised a saw and brought it down to the wood. Then he sliced the box in half with a few quick strokes. Husky suddenly forgot his embarrassment and at the same time forgot to breathe. Nana was completely cut in half – legs sticking out one end and head sticking out the other. She smiled in a frightened way.

Husky stood up instinctively and bent over the railing, something raging inside.

"NANA!"

"Sit down and shut up!" somebody shouted from the seat above his. "Your girlfriend is fine. It's just an act."

The thin boy spun around and hissed, "She's not my girlfriend!" and then sat down again, his heart pounding. There was no blood. They were putting Nana together again. She was fine. Was she?

The two pieces of the box came together as Sylvester said some sparkly words and wowed the audience, but Husky could only stare at Nana. They opened the box, and miracle of miracles, she was whole again. Husky could breathe again.

After a long moment Nana slid back into the seat next to him, face pink and happy. In her pocket she shoved a bag of coins and winked at Husky. "We're rich!"

Any other day he would have ignored a wink from his friend, but now it stung him. She frowned.

"Are you okay? You're as white as a ghost."

"I'm usually white as a ghost," he said quietly.

"Okay, how about: 'You're as white-green as a goose's shit after it ate marshmallows?'"

Husky made a face. "That sounds like something Cooro would say, not _you_."

"Well I'm _sorry_."

"No you're not."

"Okay, okay! I'm just kind of excited. I just got a _lot_ of money! Why are you upset?"

"I was just a little worried, I guess."

"Worried about what?"

He bit his lip. "Nothing, really."

"Tellllll me."

"Fine," he sighed. "You are my friend, and it is a bit disturbing to see a friend be cut in half, so I was, in short, worried about you."

She blinked. "You were worried about me?"

"Yes, stupid girl. I was worried about you."

* * *

This is the first chapter of three!

Review, my little readers. Review and you will please the great candy apple god. So review.


	2. Part 2

Part 2 out of 3! Enjoy :)

* * *

Husky stood up from his seat and pulled his cloak tightly around his body, but while doing so, knocked over his pokpok-stick. It started to roll to the edge of the balcony, where the railing was about three inches above the floor – enough room for the curtain rod to fall through and hit someone below.

"No!" Husky yelled. "My Cooro-abusing stick is escaping!" Coincidentally the next show had been a mime act: and the theater was completely silent, so that the boy's voice echoed. He turned red as he folded in half over the railing as his fingers scrabbled at the stick's end. It slipped from his grasp and fell down onto the head of an unsuspecting victim, who screamed "Eghahh!" before passing out.

"Husky!" Nana screeched, and now he was falling over the railing. For a second he was free-falling, thinking about how every face in the audience was turned towards him and gasping one collective gasp, and that he should make this fall look heroic. The next second a hand grabbed his boot and his momentum swung him face-first directly into the wall. So much for the impressive fall.

The thin boy looked up and saw Nana grasping his boot, flapping her wings with all her might. They were descending slowly, as she wasn't strong enough to carry someone. "Husky-I-don't-think-I-can-hold-on-any-longer-I'm-gonna-have-to-" She let him go and he fell with an undignified _oof _onto the carpet in an isle. "-let you fall," she finished.

"Thanks for the warning," he groaned. He put his fingers to his bottom lip; it was bleeding.

"+Anima?" Someone shouted.

"Look! It's a bat!"

"It's the cute girl that was cut in half!"

"Catch her!" a slightly familiar voice yelled, and Husky tried to place it. But his head hurt from the fall and his lip and cheek were slightly scraped from Nana bashing his head against the wall.

"Grab the boy!" someone shouted.

Another familiar voice appeared, but this one he knew well, even when it was in ultrasonic mode.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Nana screamed with all her might, louder and stronger than she had ever used her powers before. The theater shook.

Senri stopped gazing at a cloud that looked suspiciously like a frog wearing a diaper in his opinion and his eyes turned worried. They were sitting on top of scaffolding on the side of a building in the evening sunlight. Senri tilted his head to the side.

"Nana?"

"Whaff dou youf meanff?" Cooro asked, his mouth full of bread.

Senri furrowed his brow and cocked his head, but nothing more came. He turned to stare at Cooro.

The bird-boy shrugged and took another bite of his jellybean pita-bread sandwich.

Husky flailed as he ran, like a string puppet, with his arms in the air and his legs dancing.

"HURRY, Husky!"

"I'm dizzy, Nana!"

Nana swooped down from the darkness of the high hallway ceiling and grabbed Husky's cloak. She gathered the ends into one knot and flew faster. That just succeeded in turning the cloak in-side out and upside-down, completely covering Husky's face and exposing his body. It looked like she was carrying his head in a silver sack and his body was hanging out the bottom, half-dragging. His legs flailed.

"NANA STOP!" he screamed from inside the cloak, but she just flew faster down the hallway. She heard something he didn't.

Then he heard it. Footsteps.

Nana screamed at something he couldn't see and then stopped short. "NANA PUT ME DOWN!" he ordered. She did, and the cloak fell down to reveal that she was caught in the arms of a round man with a black mustache.

Husky couldn't breathe. His heart beat in his throat and his voice was a whisper. "Ringmaster?"

The ringmaster looked down at Husky and his jaw dropped. "Husky?"

Nana looked from one to the other and tried to speak, but the ringmaster's hand was over her mouth.

"What a great catch!" the ringmaster shouted. "One new +Anima, and I get my princess mermaid back!"

He grabbed Husky by the hair before he could escape, and used a rope to tie his hands to his sides. "I knew I would find some freaks to show off in my circus here!"

"LET ME GO!" Husky yelled. "HELP ME! SOMEONE!"

The ringmaster dragged the two children down the hall. He was surprisingly strong for such a heavy man. The truck waited in the back alley behind the theater; Husky spotted it in the open doorway.

Nana struggled. "Stop that, bat-girl," the ringmaster growled. Husky kicked and tried to escape the vicious head-lock he was in.

Suddenly, Nana freed her face from the ringmaster's hand. She reared back and clomped down on his hand with her teeth, looking like a shark. The ringmaster screamed and released her.

She whirled around and faced the boy and man, concentrating. "I'm sorry, Husky."

His eyes widened and he tried to put his hands over his ears, but they were clamped down by his sides by the ringmaster's rope.

"GYAHHHHHH!"

~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~3~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~

Senri looked up again. "Nana!"

"Senri, what _about_ Nana? This is the second time you've randomly blurted her name."

Senri didn't listen, but pointed to the theater down the street. Cooro raised an eyebrow. "She's in the theater?"

The kimunkle nodded and started to walk to the edge of the scaffolding.

"Senri, where are you going? It's a two story drop-AHHHHH!"

The man had just stridden right off the scaffolding and was plummeting down towards the ground, his hands up and one foot aimed at the cement. Cooro opened his wings and dove towards the falling Senri, grabbing his hair just as Senri touched the ground softly as if he had just jumped off the curb. The man didn't crumple, but looked up at Cooro with a puzzled expression.

The boy stared. "Heh, heh. I didn't know you could do that."

~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~3~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~

Husky awoke in a very small tent, evening sunlight filtering in through the thin orange canvas. He recognized it as a spare construction tent he had seen. "What time is it?" His head was on someone's lap, it was soft and the person smelled nice… He looked up and saw Nana.

"EGH!" he sat up so quickly his head collided with her chin, and they both fell into a stunned heap. After a moment the dazed Husky rolled over and staggered around. "Why was my head on your lap?"

"Husky, I was just checking your bruises! Calm down!" Nana was sitting on the dirt floor, rubbing her chin. "Look, see? They're all over your face."

She passed him a little hand-mirror, and he stared at his reflection. She was right: his cheek had a nice criss-cross pattern like a tic-tac-toe board, and underneath was a dark purple spot. His bottom lip was split, but at least he had stopped bleeding. He sat down beside her and pouted.

"I wouldn't look like this if you hadn't swung me into a wall."

"If I hadn't caught you, you would look like an egg smashed on the sidewalk!"

"Okay, thank you," he sighed.

Her green eyes flickered to his face again. "If you must know, you look a lot manlier now. It's not bad."

The boy put his hand to his face. "I can't believe that the ringmaster was here…"

"It's okay, Husky. He can't catch you now. You don't ever have to go back to the circus and work as a mermaid princess." She was teasing, but his heart was heavy.

"I _never _want to go back there," he whispered. She put her hand on top of his, and suddenly he felt a little bit happier - which was strange, because usually when Nana held his hand he shrieked like a girl and shook her off.

Then his eyes bulged out of his skull, his hair stood on end, and he leaped to his feet as he realized something: "MY STICK!"

"Your stick is fine, Husky."

"WHERE IS MY POKPOK-STICK?"

"I found it for you while we were escaping the theater. It's right there!" Nana pointed to the familiar curtain rod, leaning against the tent's inner side. Husky almost burst into happy tears and snatched it from the canvas wall.

"Are you alright, Husky?"

He didn't answer but just hugged his rod.

"I don't think you've ever shown so much emotion for anything, not even a person."

Husky sighed happily and ignored her.

"Wait… If you don't like girls… And you claim that you aren't gay… Are you in love with your Cooro-abusing stick?"

The boy whirled around. "No, I'm not! That's stupid."

"So you're gay."

"Bat-girl, I'm warning you!"

"You are?"

"No! I like _girls_."

Nana's jaw dropped so low Husky could have fit inside comfortably. "You just said you like girls!"

"I didn't mean it that way!" he paused and thought about it, flushing. "Well, II guess I did, but you _know_, you, uh, um…"

Nana was gaping. "This is a magical moment!" she squealed, and suddenly hugged him around the waist. He turned so red he was almost blue. "Little Husky is growing up!"

He pushed her off and stalked out of the tent, Nana following. "Don't be stupid. I still hate you and every other girl around."

Nana looked at him slyly. "But you just said-"

"I know what I said," he growled, "And shut your mouth before some guy thinks you're offering a-"

She snapped her mouth closed and punched Husky's back. But she was still giggling about his slip-up. "I can't wait to tell Cooro."

"Shut up, stupid girl!"

But her attention was already drawn away by something else. "Look at that poster!"

"Nana, we're _not_ going to another special event. The last one didn't turn out so well."

She turned around with little hearts in her eyes and spun in a little ballerina circle. "Husky, it's a masquerade dance! The June Carnival Ball!"

He looked at the poster, which showed women in dresses and men and suits (all wearing fancy half-face masquerade masks) on a large patio. **Price: 500 gillah.**

"Nana, we can't afford this! It's 500 gillah for tickets, even more gillah for renting dress clothes, _and_ we still need to find Cooro and Senri!"

"Stupid, I got 3000 gillah for being Sylvester's assistant! And Cooro and Senri are probably fine."

"No."

"You just don't want to go because you think some guy will think you're a girl and try and dance with you."

Husky flushed. "I'm game."

"There's the fancy clothes shop right over there!" she cried. "I'll pay for your ticket and rental suit."

"Are you renting a dress?" he asked as they approached the store.

Her green eyes glimmered. "Of course, the nicest one I can! You don't expect me to wear this caramel-covered dress to a fancy dance!"

"Sorry for being an ignorant boy," he sighed.

There was a female clerk standing at the door.

"Grab my arm," Nana hissed.

"What? Why?"

Her eyes shown with excitement. "Look at all the other people entering. They all are pairs. We need to look the part!"

Husky reluctantly entwined his arm with hers, blushing a bit, and they strode up the steps.

"Do you children need dress clothes for the Carnival Ball?" They nodded to the store clerk's question. "You, girl, go on that side of the store, and wait to be fitted." Nana hurried off with a familiar shopping gleam in her eyes. "And you…" the clerk bit her lip and focused on Husky… "You're a boy? Come with me; I'll fit you."

Husky clenched his fists and followed her. The entrance to the dance patio was on the other side of the shop.

"My, you're really cute," the clerk said to Husky. "We need a color to bring out those magnificent eyes! Or something silver for your hair. We have all our smaller sizes in the back room: follow me."

The back room was full of multi-colored fabrics. "We're usually just a regular dress shop, but for Carnival we order _all_ sorts of colors and patters. Ah- How about this?"

She pulled down a red and orange striped suit with a gaudy yellow collar. Flopping a hat with a yellow feather onto the boy's head, she looked at him for approval.

"Maybe duller colors," he said, taking off the hat. The clerk pulled out a black suit and had him try it on.

"This? You'll stand out, mind you. _No one_ wears a black suit to the Carnival Ball! You need to look like a jester."

"Okay, maybe not."

White and red. "I don't want to look like a candy cane."

Dark green. "I'm not going to war."

Purple and lavender. "No!"

She pulled out a suit that caught Husky's eye. "Try this on." He did so.

It was two shades of gray – one silver and the other so light it was almost blue. They were arranged in a stretched-out checkered pattern that made Husky think of it as the spawn of a chess board and a pinstriped suit. He wore white shoes and thin white gloves. His collar and tie were an icy blue, like his eyes. The buttons were little crystals – plastic replicas, he realized after examination. He stepped out of the dressing room.

"Well, aren't you the most dashing young man," the clerk remarked. "The costume makes me think 'Neptune's jester'."

Husky frowned and stared at himself in the mirror. The clerk fiddled with his tie.

"Loosen it. Only old men have it tight; you want yours to be hanging, and the top buttons of your suit undone." She took a step back and admired her work. "Wow, your girl is going to be happy."

"I don't have a girl," he said coldly.

"Oh, come on. I know you and that pretty thing weren't siblings. You look as different as a fish and a bat."

"She's just my friend," he growled.

"Well, the Carnival Ball can help fix that for you."

"No, I don't _want_-"

"Oh, come on, you two are cute together. Just go with it."

Husky backed away from the clerk. "Am I done yet?"

"You look good. Exit the shop through the back door and grab a mask on the way out: return everything by midnight."

"My curfew is that time, anyway," Husky sighed. "Thank you."

Looking for Nana, the girl was no where to be found. He waited and glanced at the sun through the window. Setting. They had a little less than four hours left before midnight.

"Nana?" he called. His friend didn't appear. He sighed and walked to the back door, which led to a tent outside entirely full of masquerade masks. They plastered every canvas wall and hung in every spot possible, from plain white cocktail masks to elaborately colored and feathered masks adorned with jewels.

The burly man standing at the tent exit stopped Husky. "Where's your mask?"

"I don't want one."

"You have to wear a mask, son; it's a masquerade ball."

The silver-haired boy scanned the wall. He noticed a black mask half-covered in dark feathers, a brown and cream mask decorated with designs, a white mask with long whiskers hanging off the edges and cat ears on the top. They were all masks either too girly or too large, so he grit his teeth and searched some more. Then something at the back of a rack caught his eye. He pulled it down and gasped.

Half of it was light blue and had fish scales melted into it, and the other side was white, with silver designs sprouting from the eyehole. The edges (and this was the thing that attracted Husky) were decorated with itty-bitty river stones. The mask extended enough to cover his upper face and his whole nose.

"I'll take this one," he told the man, and passed him some gillah. "Have you seen a girl about my age go by?"

"I've seen _many _girls of your age," the man chuckled. "Don't worry; you're sure to get a date."

"No, I lost my friend. She has wheat-colored hair."

"I might have seen her."

"What is she wearing? I need to find her."

The man raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to tell you. The whole point of the masquerade Carnival Ball is to go in costume! You'll have to find her yourself."

"Thanks a lot," Husky grumbled, and strode out the tent door onto the patio. He stood at the top of the marble stairs and gasped.

It was like a fountain of color and patters had overflowed. Dresses of flashy designs and wide skirts, suits like a jester costume, and every person had a mask strapped to their face. Masqueraders were everywhere, talking, laughing, and eating food from long tables with white tablecloths that fluttered in the evening breeze. The sun was just on the horizon, casting a red shadow on the whole floor. A tall white wire fence surrounded the patio.

"The dancing starts at sunset!" Husky heard a woman exclaim. He surveyed the people from high on the stairs and tried to find the familiar wheat-colored head. There were a few kids their age – maybe a dozen – but no Nana.

He descended down the steps, feeling the wind in his hair and trailing one white-gloved hand down the railing. A group of beautiful girls in low-fronted dresses turned and stared at him. One licked her lips. He shuddered, trying not to think about the many queens, the harem of older girls in fancy dresses, the pins in the candies. This reminded him too much of darker things… Think happy, Husky.

That reminded him; where were Cooro and Senri?

~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~3~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~

"She's not here," Cooro said, walking between the theater seats. "I don't know what you're trying to find."

Senri pouted. "Nana?"

"No. She's not here. I think we should go get some more food."

Senri waggled a finger and mimed breaking something in his hands.

"That's right; the last buffet place we went to did go broke. Nothing to do with _us_, though." Cooro walked towards the door. "You know, I heard there's a good bar down the street. You look old enough to get us in…"

~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~3~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~

The sun dipped below the horizon and everything, from the laughing ladies to the dancing leaves on the breeze, turned a rich shade of gold. Husky leaned on the snack table. Then, the lanterns were lit and the music started. Husky picked up a scone, took a bite, and watched.

Someone slid over next to him. It was a very attractive girl his age wearing a red feathered mask and red dress, one of the ones that had been staring at him earlier. "Hey there, cute-face."

He blinked. "Hello," he heard his own voice say. It was husky and he couldn't help it. She giggled.

"Put down the curtain rod, boy. Care to walk a bout?" The girl pulled the stick from his hand and moved closer. He tensed. How would he say no?

She traced his bruise on his cheek with a finger. "Oh, you're hurt. Do you need a kiss to make it feel better?"

"Uh, um…" he stuttered. It was an odd feeling, to have an actual girl hitting on him instead of a boy! But he hated girls. She didn't understand that.

"And your lip as well." There was a glimmer in her eye behind the mask. She pressed close and whispered, "Does it hurt?"

Husky saw something over her shoulder and his jaw dropped. "Yes, it hurts like hell! I can kiss it myself though!" he burst out, then blushed furiously. "Excuse me; I need to talk to someone." He pushed rudely past her, snatching his rod, and walked towards the staircase, staring at the girl who was walking slowly down.

Her long, wheat-colored hair was up in a bun, pinned with golden ornaments, but some loose pieces hung down in tight bouncy curls. Her dress was tight on the top, making Husky blush a bit at looking, and then rounded out into a perfect circle around her feet (which were clad in sparkling golden slippers). The fabric of her dress was a marbled moss-green with golden thread, and white trim. Her rented jewelry was golden with green gems, and her mask was completely gold except for some black designs near her eyes, looking like spider-webs.

She was beautiful.

And she was Nana. Underneath all that party dress stuff was the annoying bat-girl, because even if she could hide her face Husky would know her green eyes and wheat-colored hair anywhere.

He stopped before he reached her and suddenly had the impulse to duck into the crowd. Let her find him.

The fish +Anima wandered a bit for some time before he noticed a group of older boys surrounding someone, someone familiar.

"Please dance with me, cutie," one boy pressured.

"Don't go to him," another snarled. "_I_ want you."

A boy made a grab at Nana's chest and she backed up. "Why don't you just skip the dancing and come home with me, doll?" he snarled.

Husky took an angry breath and forced his way into the group of assholes with his pokpok-stick. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but I'd like it if you kept your hands off _my_ date."

Nana tried to hide a grin and hugged Husky. He put his arm around her.

The boys sneered down at him but backed away. "Remember, girl, if this guy turns out to be a douche…" on said, but Nana stuck out her tongue at him and he walked away.

Husky leaned his pok-pok stick against a bench and danced with her into the crowd. "That wasn't mature of you."

"They were being rude!"

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

She looked up at him. "I am really your date?"

"For now you can be."

"Really? Thanks for saving me."

"I would have done the same for any other beautiful girl in that position."

Her eyes lit up at the word 'beautiful', but then she frowned. "_Any_ girl? But aren't _I_ a little more important?"

"I see not, as I just met you."

"Husky, _what_?"

"I'm not Husky," he said as they waltzed past the group of girls, who looked furiously on. "I'm just a young masquerader."

She blinked behind her golden mask, and then giggled to herself. "I'm sorry, sir, I mistook you for a friend of mine. But you're so much more polite, so you couldn't possibly be him."

Husky countered: "You remind me of a friend of mine; but she's extremely loud and annoying, so you must not be her."

"Well, my friend doesn't understand girls at _all_, and says he hates them – but I doubt he actually does."

"My friend likes boys a lot, and confuses me a lot with strange behaviors. One moment she'll hug me, and then next she'll be trying to beat me over the head with a frying pan."

She looked angry. "I don't do that-"

"We weren't talking about _you_; we were talking about my friend."

"Fine, you win, stranger. So where do you come from?"

Husky thought. "From Sailand, where I was a prince."

"A prince? That sounds romantic." Nana moved closer as they danced. Husky vaguely noticed the developing curves of her body under her thin dress and blushed. He put one hand on her open back during the waltz, and she tensed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she whispered, but her voice was a squeak.

"Are you alright?"

She sighed. "I just have tattoos back there I'm usually not comfortable letting people see. But for this occasion I decided otherwise."

"Do you not like them?"

"I don't mind them, I'm just afraid that my friend, when he sees them, will think they're ugly."

Husky paused. "I'll look at them before he does, to judge." He whirled Nana around like it was part of the dance and brushed her loose hair away from her back. There were her +Anima markings plain to Husky for the first time; and they weren't ugly. Quite the opposite, in fact. On a regular day, when Husky wasn't a pretend gentleman, he would have lied and told Nana her +Anima markings were 'Okay, I guess'. But behind his fake personality, he ventured outside his comfort zone.

He turned her so he could look into her eyes and whisper quietly, "Don't worry about anything – they're beautiful."

She smiled and took his gloved hand. They danced.

* * *

3 3 3 Tell me what you think please!


	3. Part 3

Okay, this is the last part, 3 of 3! Enjoy...

* * *

They danced. The sun was deep under the horizon now, and the first stars were coming out. The large clock on the wall read ten o'clock. Two hours until they had to leave. Two hours to find Cooro and Senri.

~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~

"Cash in here!" cried a man. "Our gambling house! Poker, blackjack, any card game!"

"Senri," hissed Cooro. "I bet we could make millions of gillah by playing a game!"

The man turned out his buckskin pockets and looked disappointed. They were empty. Cooro gave one of his rare frowns and the laughed.

"Don't worry, I still have something to put in the pot!" he skipped to the door. "Can we come in?"

"Is this your father?" The doorman pointed to Senri.

"…Yes!"

"Come on in."

They joined the poker game with a bunch of tough, burly guys. Cooro licked his lips nervously.

"What are you guys putting in the pile?"

"We have no money, but…" Cooro fished for something in his pants. The mens' eyes widened. "Here are some caramel apples! They're worth 60 pillah, but less now so we'll call them 40 pillah." He dumped a sticky mess on the table.

They looked at each other and shrugged 'sure.'

Senri stared at the pile of cards as if he could make them burst into flames while they were being dealt.

A man laughed. "Hey, man, you're freaking me out now. Don't stare at the cards like that."

"It's not like he can get a good hand by looking at the stack," another large man chuckled. Senri looked at his hand that he received, and his face didn't change whatsoever. He had a good poker face, to say. But inside he was smiling.

Royal flush; what luck.

~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~

"Ah, these gloves are too hot," Husky groaned, leaning against the fence. He pulled off his white gloves, tied them to his curtain rod, and rolled his blue-and-gray sleeves up to his elbows. "Why the hell did they have a full-suited dance in June?"

"I'm kinda uncomfortable in this dress." Nana fluffed up the front to let some air flow, and Husky got a quick glance of slender bare legs before the green and gold silks flopped back down. He caught himself staring and scolded himself – he hadn't thought this way about Nana before the dance – so what was going on? She was an annoying bat-girl he had known for two years, not the beautiful masquerader. This was just games of pretend which both of them were playing.

People and fireflies danced around them as they weaved through the crowd to go get drinks. Husky had an odd sensation: his hands were ungloved. They hadn't been bare in a very long while, as normally he wore his thick working gloves except for while fishing or sleeping. And he hadn't touched another person's skin with his own for the longest time, almost forever.

Nana's hand was soft and delicate, but her fingertips were callused from picking threads out of linens for most of day. She looked up, seeming to be on the same track as the boy, a strange look in her eyes.

"My friend always wore gloves and I never touched his hands. Not that we ever held hands, anyway."

Then she stood on her tiptoes and pulled something out of Husky's hair, her golden mask glittering. He could feel her breath on his neck. "You had a flower in your hair," she whispered. She stuck the pink blossom into his breast pocket and took his hand, meandering over to get a drink.

"Have some punch, my lady," Husky said with a flirting smile, and passed her a cup.

"Thank you."

"So, did you buy this beautiful dress?"

She looked sad. "No, I rented it. I have to return it by midnight."

"Same with the suit I'm wearing."

"It looks really good."

"You look really good."

Her face lit up. "But I did buy the shoes. I like them so much!" Husky glanced down at the small golden slippers and half-smiled. Nana was so obsessive about clothes.

~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~

"I love money, money, and more money! Now I can buy Senri lots of yummy honey!" Cooro sang. His fists were holding bags of gillah that they had won, and his face was sticky with caramel. They walked quickly down the dark alley. "Senri, you are a one-of-a-kind big bear-man. Anyone would have thought you rigged the deck! I mean, you won _every_ round!"

The kimunkle smiled.

"You know, it's about time we found Husky and Nana!" He laughed. "They've been alone so long together they're either both dead, or… or... whoa I just got some really bad images!"

He blached at the ridiculous idea. Then they heard music and laughter as they turned the corner, and before them was a great white fence, which inside was a scattering of dancing people in costumes. The glowing lights cast shadows on the two +Anima standing outside the gate, who looked longingly in. "There's food in there," Cooro whispered. Senri reached out towards a pink-blossomed tree that sparkled with fireflies.

"You know, I bet this is the place where Husky and Nana are," Cooro said. "It seems like a royal ball."

"Masquerade," Senri read off a sign.

"Let's crash it. We'll just need masks," Cooro said.

"Ticket?"

"Of course not, Senri. Don't be silly."

And then Cooro soared over the fence and landed on the other side. Senri blinked and then quickly shimmied up a tree and dropped over, falling to the ground softly like a cat. The women in the crowd without a dance partner (and even some in the company of a man as well) collectively turned to him as if drawn by a force. He gulped.

Cooro ran off and placed a red grinning devil mask over his whole face, dumping a pile of poker-earned gillah on the counter. He went back (on the way shoveling snack croissants into his arms) to Senri, who was now surrounded by women heavily flirting with him.

"Senri, Senri, Senri," Cooro sighed behind his devil mask. "Stop fooling around with the ladies and help me find Husky and Nana! It's almost midnight."

The man slipped through the mass of drooling women and surveyed the patio while Cooro tied a white fabric mask around Senri's head. One gray eye sparkled in an eyehole; the other eyehole had a strange shadowed blackness inside. They walked over to a bench under a pink-blossomed tree where Husky's pokpok-stick was leaned, two white gloves tied to it.

"We found his stick," Cooro gasped. "Where are they?"

Senri gave a rare smile and watched a white moth flutter by.

"You don't think they got kidnapped!" Cooro yelped.

The man shook his head and watched the moth.

"Abducted and fed to evil purple gnomes that live inside of jelly donuts?"

A shake of the head.

"You think… _No_. They_ wouldn't_, Senri. That's worse than _any_ other option! Ewww!"

"I bet," the handsome man said quietly. "40 gillah."

"It's on."

~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~

Across the patio from the two +Anima shaking hands, a slender purple-gloved hand was rested on Husky's shoulder. He turned to face a girl with fiery red hair.

"Hey, my prince, why don't you stop dancing with this little girl and come spend time with us real ladies?" She motioned back to where a group of girls were standing. He shook his head.

"No thank you. I made a promise that I would only dance with the most beautiful girl at the Ball, and I already found her."

The girl in purple stalked off, fists clenched, and Husky turned back to face Nana at the drinks table. She was gaping. "Husky, do you really-"

"Who's Husky? I'm just a prince from a faraway land."

She bit her lip. "And I'm just a thread-picker."

"Oh, but you are fit to be a princess. I mean, look at the size of your feet."

"My feet?" She raised her eyebrows and looked down.

"You never see a princess with large feet, do you? To be able to fit your feet into those slippers – You could easily be a princess."

She laughed, her cheeks rosy. They wandered across the patio, through the tipsy crowd (someone had spiked the punch), and sat on a secluded marble window seat so that they could talk in peace. It was high on the hill, and the breeze blew through the half-built window. The night stars sparkled like a million fireflies.

"What's the design on your mask?" Husky asked.

"It's a spider web, but I like to think of it as something else."

"And what is that?"

She turned towards the window, but he could still see her blush. "A net for fish."

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "Are you going to catch any tonight?"

"That depends on whether they're willing to swim to me."

"Upstream or downstream?"

"Up." Her eyes glittered.

He laughed. "You're clever, Ms. Fishmonger. Will I get to see you again?" Husky's tone was half-teasing.

"I don't know," Nana said. "You're just a masquerader, like me. Behind the mask you're someone different. So I would never actually see _you_ again."

"How do you know I don't like being my masquerader-self more than my actual self?"

"I bet you're just pretending," she whispered. Husky's heart beat fast.

"But you're pretending as well."

She nodded slowly, the golden clips in her wheat-colored hair glittering in the darkness.

"Well," he murmured. "While we're both pretending…"

He trailed off and started to lean forwards, catching her lips with his own in a kiss. Her green eyes widened for a second, and then she closed them. Husky ran an ungloved hand through her wheat-colored hair and brought her closer, deeper into the kiss.

Their masks collided and he felt Nana smile. She had caught her fish.

~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~

The handsome kimunkle watched the white moth flutter up the patio hillside and land on the windowsill of a half-built outdoor window. Inside were two young people kissing.

"Senri, don't stare at them!" the boy with the grinning devil mask hissed. "It's not polite…" he trailed off and squinted also, suddenly suspicious. "Senri, is that-? Can it be?" His jaw dropped. "WHAT?"

The man lightly cuffed Cooro on the back of his head. "No staring."

A sound rang through the air: the clock tower was tolling midnight. Nana and Husky broke apart reluctantly and blinked, like the magic that had drawn them together had faded. Touching Husky's shoulder, Nana caught in her hand a white moth that had been sitting there.

"We've got to go, _now_!" Husky said quickly, a bit pink. "We were supposed to return the costumes already." He pulled off his mask and felt something switch off inside.

"Wait," Nana hissed. "Look down there." She pointed down to two people weaving through the crowd; a tall kimunkle and a boy with dark hair and a devil mask. Husky paled.

"Senri and Cooro? What are they doing here? Did they see-?"

"I don't think so. Let's go meet them," Nana said, but Husky pulled his hand out of her grasp.

"No! I'd be embarrassed, bat-girl."

Nana looked lost. "Oh," she finally whispered. "You aren't being a masquerader anymore. You're Husky again."

Husky nodded and wrestled out of his blue-and-gray suit, pulling on his other clothes. "Here, go return these for me. I'll go get Cooro and Senri. Meet us at the gate to the town."

He watched her green-clad form dash off. The back door to the dress shop was swinging shut while she ran, and as Husky watched bat wings sprouted from her back and she whizzed forwards to catch it, then hiding her +Anima and going inside. Something glittering on the marble stairs caught Husky's eye. He strode over, silver cloak flapping, and picked it up. It was one of Nana's small golden slippers. He put it into his pocket.

"There you are, Husky!" Cooro shouted as he and Senri jogged up the stairs to meet him. "Here's your rod."

Husky took the stick from his friend's hands and smiled. Cooro's brown eyes became saucers, and he turned to Senri. "Did you just see that? Senri, did you _see_ that? Husky _smiled_!" Cooro then gazed closely at Husky and yelped, "What the hell happened to your face? Was Nana _that _vicious?"

"WHAT? I flew into a wall, that's what happened!"

"_Sure_…"

Senri elbowed Cooro. "Shush," the man said quietly. Husky narrowed his eyebrows.

"Where were you guys?"

"Oh, we were all over the place. We even got some gillah. But where were _you_?" There was an odd teasing glint in Cooro's dark eyes.

"Well, we were in the theater, and then we went here…" he trailed off and prepared to lie. They walked down the main street that was strewed with bright streamers, uneaten scraps of food, and a few drunken people.

"Where's Nana?" Cooro poked him in the chest with a jelly-sticky finger. He grinned under his already-grinning mask. Husky still had his mask held in his hand, as it wasn't rented but bought.

The fish +Anima paled. "Nana? Oh, I saw her maybe an hour ago, dancing with some guy… Not since then though."

Cooro's eyes sparkled. "Really, Husky? Because just a minute ago we thought we saw you and Nana -_ouch_!"

Senri had poked Cooro in the ribs forcefully. Husky strode ahead of the others so that they wouldn't see his blushing cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on, Husky. You don't have to pretend you don't like girls if-Senri, stop that!"

Senri had poked Cooro again. He shook his head in a wise manner.

"I HATE GIRLS!" Husky shouted, whirling around to glare at the laughing Cooro. "Just shut up, will you?"

The boy put his hands up. "Okay, okay! I guess we were wrong." To Senri he hissed: "I want my money back."

Senri shook his head, then got distracted by another moth and ignored Cooro, who was now happily dancing towards the town entrance.

"Look, there's Margaret waiting!"

They hopped in the back of the wagon. Maragaret was sitting in front, stroking the horse. "How was Carnival, boys?"

"Awesome!" Cooro cried. "The food was soooo good and the people were so friendly ('and so ignorant of your thievery' Husky muttered) and I can't _wait_ until next year's Carnival!" Under his breath he muttered, "Senri won't give me my money back."

"Senri?" Margaret looked expectantly at him. He smiled and handed her a fiery orange flower he had picked.

"Thank you, Senri," she murmured. "What about you, Husky? You told me you hate carnivals because they remind you of the circus."

He thought back to the night: the cameral apple fiasco, getting his face smashed into a wall, being humiliated and then dropped of a balcony, being chased by the ringmaster… He shuddered and goosebumps rose on his arms.

Then he thought of his mask on his face and the confidence he held, the way Nana looked in her dress and how her body moved when she danced with him, his head in her lap, her hand in his… He put his hand in his pocket and touched the golden shoe, and remembered the feel of her soft lips…

He let his one of his very rare smiles show. "It was wonderful."

"And where is Nana?"

"Ask _Husky_," Cooro said. "He saw her last."

"She was returning the masquerade costumes to the shop," Husky said just as a familiar sound reached their ears. Wingbeats filled the air as Nana landed on top of the back of the wagon, back in her regular skirts with tears in her eyes. Her mask was in her hand.

"Nana, what's wrong?" Margaret cried.

The girl stuck a bare foot into the air. "I bought a pretty pair of shoes but I lost one!" Tears trickled from her eyes, but whether for the shoe she cried or for the loss of the masquerade-Husky's love it was unclear. Husky put his hand in his pocket, but decided that this was not the wise time to reveal the golden twin.

"It'll be okay," Margaret said comfortingly. "We'll find it, and if we don't, we can always buy another pair."

Nana continued her whimpering, and occasionally glancing at Husky. He tried not to look at her the whole ride home. While Cooro chatted absent-mindedly about applesauce and candy, he felt Nana's eyes on his back.

Finally, when they got home, he walked up the stairs without talking to her and flopped down on his bed in the room he shared with Cooro. After a minute he pulled the slipper out of his pocket. Cooro walked in.

"What are you _doing_?" the other boy asked, staring at the slipper. "Why did you steal Nana's shoe?"

"I'm just returning it," Husky said quickly. He got up, grabbed a piece of paper from his dresser and wrote something on it with a marker. Then he walked down the hallway.

Cooro looked from Nana's closed bedroom door to Husky and then back to the door. "Oh-ho, I understand."

Husky blanched. "You do?"

"You're holding Nana's shoe hostage for her delicious mince pies! Good plan!"

Resting his hand on the doorknob to Nana's room, he sighed and muttered, "…You don't understand at all."

~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~

The morning light streamed through the open window and Nana sleepily blinked her eyes open. She stretched and yawned, feeling the breeze run through her thin nightgown and smiling. Last night had been confusing, but she had finally concluded that Husky had just been kidding with her, just out for some excitement. It hurt her a little, but at least she had gotten to kiss him.

A glitter of gold caught her eye. On her bedside table there was her missing slipper flickering like caged fire in the morning sunlight. She rolled over and groggily read the piece of paper that was inside, "If the shoe fits…". Then she fished from the toe two objects; a pin flower and a blue scale from Husky's mask.

She raised her eyebrows, and then pulled the slipper onto her foot. It fit perfectly, like it should have. She grinned, and ran out into the hall only in her golden slippers and thin nightgown. Smacking straight into a certain silver-haired boy, they tumbled down the hallway. When Nana shook the stars from her head she realized she was in an odd position – sitting on top of Husky. The boy's eyes were wide with surprise and his cheeks were pink.

"Hey, Husky," Nana giggled sleepily, and wiggled her toes. "The shoe fits." Then suddenly they were kissing again, _much_ more dynamically than the last time.

~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~*~oO0Oo~

Cooro opened his bedroom door, drowsily yawning and stretching, and then abruptly jumped back with wide eyes. At his feet, in the hallway outside his door, was the oddest, most unexpected, and one of the most disturbing pictures he had ever seen.

"Husky and Nanaaa!" he screeched in shock. "Oh my _God_!" He covered his eyes and tried to walk back through his bedroom doorway, but ended up stepping straight down the staircase and tumbling all the way down. Strong arms caught him at the bottom, and he uncovered his face to see his kimunkle friend staring down at him placidly.

"Senri," the boy said slowly, "You can keep the 40 gillah."

* * *

Honestly I adore Husky/Nana (also +Anima in general) and I'm saddened by the atomity of this fandom :'( But soooo how did you peeps like my story? As I said it was originally planned to be a short one-shot... I should know that the reality is usually four times as large as the storyline I had brainstormed...

~oO0Oo~Review~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~Review~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~Review~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~Review~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~Review~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~Review~oO0Oo~oO0Oo~


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